But I'd never thought of Yahoo's home in Sunnyvale, Calif., as an especially snooty place. Indeed, if you walk into Yahoo's headquarters, they all line up for lunch like at a cruise line's buffet. Not exactly the apogee of exclusivity.

Those who believe that the essence of snobbery resides in such places as the Hamptons or some other East Coast enclave of upturned noses may be in for a stunning surprise here.

Six of the Top 10 cities are actually in the new home of American power, California. Oddly, though, Sunnyvale is the only Silicon Valley city that makes the grade.

Movoto says it used median home price, median household income, percentage of population with a college degree, private schools per capita, performing arts and art galleries per capita, country clubs per capita and, quite naturally, fast food restaurants per capita to discern the true centers of snootiness.

How could one argue that the presence of an art gallery and the absence of a McDonald's signify exalted social status? A snob isn't what he is, but what he does. Allegedly.

The winner in this race to the top was Pasadena, Calif., the home of the Rose Bowl. Next came Thousand Oaks, Calif., and Alexandria, Va. However, there was almost insane consternation in Naperville, Ill., which came fourth.

I'm sorry, I meant there was great pride. Naperville resident Dekole Branch told CBS Chicago: "I'm here probably because I'm a snob. It means we're better than everyone else and we know it. And so we pay to be amongst those who are better than everyone else."

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I wonder if the same could be said of Sunnyvaleites. Moreover, I'm stunned that more areas of the Valley didn't perform too well.

So many personalities who represent the Valley, such as the avowed elitist Tom Perkins ("criticizing the rich is like Nazism") and let's-start-an-island-just-for-us-techy-types types such as Larry Page and Peter Thiel, evince such vast holierness than thou that you'd imagine their influence would spread far and quickly.

Still, on its Web site Sunnyvale declares that it's "The Heart of the Silicon Valley."

How disappointing, though, that Silicon Valley's heart is still only the eighth most snobby heart in America.

I feel sure that some enterprising Valley startup is working on disrupting that performance.

About the author

Chris Matyszczyk is an award-winning creative director who advises major corporations on content creation and marketing. He brings an irreverent, sarcastic, and sometimes ironic voice to the tech world.
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